Sometimes we look at sights in nature but don't really see. While hiking in the woods the other day, it became a realization that we need to open our heart and eyes to see the beauty of the simple things in nature with each season. There is so much order and purpose in His creation. God has given us awesome beauty in this world to see and enjoy... if we would but stop to see and feel it. Join us as this blog is about stopping to see the real beauty around us...to touch and feel it... "Through the Lens".

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Saturday, May 31, 2014

After arriving at Chewacla, we spent the next four days just checking out all the different sights in the park. I can honestly say that there are many different activities to do here. The park offers over 16 miles of neat mountain biking trails…but not paved, multiple hiking trails that pass by 2 different creeks as well as a 26 acre lake. You can swim and fish in that lake as well as just enjoy the different terrains in the park.

While we were there, it rained hard almost every night, but the days were simply great. We were going to hike down the steep trail to the waterfalls, but the ranger recommended we wait until the slope was dryer because it was quite slippery with the night rains. So we will make that our next visit. We did see this guy from the top of the path that led down to the falls. I didn’t get a good shot since I was facing the sun, but anyway.

You can see the water that leads to the falls in this distant pic.

Wednesday Gerri and I found a creek bed that we followed for a good distance and saw some really neat areas on that creek.

We did manage to find these guys sunning and enjoying themselves. After that hike along the creek bed, we made it back to the camper and just chillaxed outside. The temps were very pleasant during the daytime, especially since we were surrounded by trees.

Thursday we decided to take a hike of a different terrain

through the woods and just enjoy walking on the trail. It was so calm and relaxing just to have that casual walk in the woods. That night we met Stephen and Raegan at El Dorado Mexican Restaurant for dinner.

Friday, we met an interesting camper 2 sights down from us. During our talk, we found that he was the Director of The Alabama Scenic River Trails and he shared many interesting tales including stories about Blakely State Park in Alabama that makes us want to go there.

Reality kicked in and reminded me I have a house to finish painting so this morning we reluctantly packed up and headed home. It was a fantastic four days and we are already planning our next outing.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

We decided it was past time for a little outing, so off we went to Chewalca State Park in Auburn, Alabama. The state park has 696 scenic acres and a 26 acre lake with many different hiking trails. Each site has full hookups and the weekday rates are less than weekends. There is also Chewacla waterfalls in the park. Since we just arrived this afternoon, we haven’t hit the trails today. We are snuggled in a sight surrounded by trees. Stephen and Raegan also live in Auburn, so it’s a double treat…camping and visiting family.

They came over for a cookout, campfire and smores…and boy did we put away some smores.

After eating, we just sat around and had a real good, relaxing visit in our campsite. We talked for a couple of hours and ended up almost falling asleep we were so comfortable.

Tomorrow we are going to explore some of the park and venture into Auburn and explore that community.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Once upon a time there was a wedding in the park.... Our son, Stephen, was married in the beautiful park overlooking Mobile Bay in Fairhope, Alabama on May 8, 2014. His bride, Raegan Smith became his forever friend and wife in this sweet, private wedding ceremony.

The wedding was originally planned to be held on the beach in Gulf Shores. Upon arriving we discovered that the wind was wild and holding a veil on might become a problem along with crowds of people. They planned to stay in Fairhope, Alabama following the wedding so we suggested that they take a look at the Fairhope park at the municipal pier. The minute they saw it they fell in love. Beautiful green grass, tall beautiful trees overlooking the gorgeous Mobile Bay complete with a fountain and blooming roses.

Since this was a small family wedding, changing the venue was no problem. A phone call to the minister and everything was set.

We couldn't have been happier since Mike and I fell in love with Fairhope during the winter of 2010 when we stayed at Rainbow Plantation. Fairhope was named the second best small town in the south by Southern Living magazine. It certainly isn't hard to see why!! It was founded in 1894 as a single tax colony. The municipal pier was also opened in 1894 and played a vital role in the development of the area!!

The weather was perfect and the wedding sweet and personal. We are so happy to see Stephen begin his family with Raegan and welcome her with open arms to our family!!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Our little Casita has sat in the driveway looking rather lonely and forlorn for the last few weeks since our return from the Green Eggs and Ham Rally. There is a good reason....no there is a fantastic reason!!! Our son, Stephen, is getting married May 8th on the beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama. His bride-to-be, Raegan Smith, is a wonderful young lady and we couldn't be more excited about having her join our family. Even though we are the parents of the groom we have been very active in the planning and organizing for this exciting event, along with the bride and groom of course!! There will be more about this in a later blog.

We have also been very busy helping them move into their new apartment in Auburn. This is a beautiful apartment complex on a lovely golf course. They have a nice apartment and are having lots of fun decorating it and putting their unique stamp on it.

When we "purged" our "stuff" to full-time we made sure to save many furniture items for Stephen. These went into storage during our full-time stint and then in our basement until now. Their apartment is full!!!

On top of all this excitement we discovered that our house was in great need of painting. Our last several homes have all been brick until now....what were we thinking???? When we bought the house, 3 years ago, the gentleman that owned it had it painted. We felt really good about that but little did we know that he took the easy route...not much scraping and priming so this job didn't last. It's a big job but Mike is doing a great with it. We decided since we had to paint, now was a good time to change the color, slightly.

We went from what I call blue, technically it is a blue/gray, but it looked blue to me, to a deeper gray color. In my humble opinion, it looks so much better.

This coming week we will be cleaning and getting the Casita ready for a road trip to Gulf Shores State Park. We will stay there for the wedding festivities and then a couple days after to enjoy our favorite spots in this area. We plan to meander our way back home after that. We will be posting where we land along the way. We may not be full-timers any longer but we are crazy passionate about RVing/camping and whenever we get ready to "go" we get soooo excited. Hitch itch still strikes...quite often.

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About Us

Gerri and I were married in 1982 and have dreamed of full-timing for quite some time. September, 2009 we began our fulltime adventure. In December 2016 we re-entered the full-time lifestyle but now in our New Oliver travel Trailer. We want to see the beauties of God's creation whether they be grand sights or plain simple beauties. To see and experience the lifestyles of the different areas of our country. God is good!